String Backpack

A few years ago i bought this tent-like-material when i was making a new seat for my motorcycle. The other day i wanted to make a strong, waterproof, lightweight backpack that can be folded up and put in your pocket and figured that the material i had would be perfect. There's lots of instructions online on how to make the string backpacks. It seemed pretty simple. I tried to sew it by hand but it wasn't near strong enough. So i went to the Salvation Army and bought a sewing machine for $30. I plugged it in at the store, pushed the pedal and it seemed to work, the needle went up and down... When i got home i tried using it but it...

Date Palm

While trying to grow the palm seeds i got out west, i read that you can also grow a palm tree from date seeds. First off, they don't taste as bad as they look, but they are still really bad. Kind of like a giant raisin, but worse. At the center is the date seed. The date and the seed insideLike the rest of the seeds i've tried to grow, i soaked them for 1 day then put them in a zip-lock bag with a wet paper towel. After 1 week, 2 of them sprouted. The rest of the seeds gradually started sprouting 3-6 weeks later. Surprisingly their root comes out of the middle of the seed. I noticed that they sprouted best when there...

Free Online Music

Here are 3 ways to listen to music online. The first two are super easy, you'll have songs playing within 5 seconds.Pandora Radio This site has you type in a song or band that you like and it plays music that is similar. It's a great way to discover new bands that play the same type of music you already like. The downside is that you cannot pick particular songs and it only lets you skip a few songs at a time. It's sort of like a radio station tailored to you.GroovesharkThis is similar to Pandora except it's better. It lets you pick the exact song you want to listen to, see every song from any band and make playlists to listen to. I first...

Lotus Table

While looking online about growing a lotus i saw this table.It seemed simple and cool so i drew it on AutoCAD and printed off a full size pattern. I'm not sure if i will ever make i...

Peanuts

While reading about palm trees i learned about growing date palms. And while reading about date palms i learned about growing peanuts. It looked like a cool idea so i bought a bag of RAW peanuts from Walmart.For peanuts the soil temperature has to be hot for 100-120 days, depending on the type of peanut. Valencia and Spanish peanuts would have been the best here in Michigan because they only need 100 days. But i couldn't find those. The only raw peanuts they had still in the shell were Virginia peanuts.So i soaked them for a day and they really swelled up, probably double their original size. I've heard mixed theories...

New New Phone

A couple months ago i got the HTC Freestyle. I thought it would be great, but it wasn't. Fearing that i'd be stuck with it for the next 2 years i called Amazon and asked if i could exchange it for the Motorola Atrix. Surprisingly they said sure, they even send me a UPS ticket so that shipping was free.The new phone is great. It's one of the fastest phones around today, with a dual core cpu. No i get email, weather, GPS and a lot more. And through Amazon the phone was $70 cheaper then at the AT&T stor...

Sixty Dollar Mower

The house Karrie's renting has a huge yard, probably like a half acre and it would take hours to mow. So i looked on Craigslist for a while and saw a riding mower for $100. The add said it cranks over but won't start. When i showed up the guy turned the key and nothing happened. He fiddled around with it for a while but still nothing. He said how about $60, so i said sure.What i know is that it's a Lawn Chief riding mower. I think the 11 - 36 means that it's an 11 horse power engine with a 36" wide cutting deck. I have no idea what year it is. The model number is completely worn off.As always, using what i've learning:CompressionSpark/TimingFuel/AirI...

Internet TV

I don't have cable anymore but i hardly miss it. Here's how i watch practically any tv show with just an internet connection. This is my setup in the living room with a computer connected to my TV and using a wireless keyboard and mouse. The most popular site that most people have heard of is Hulu. There are plenty of sites that are similar to Hulu, they have a limited number of shows with commercials every 15 minutes. Side Reel is a site that brings all of those other sites together, eg Nbc.com, ComedyCentral.com, Hulu.com, etc.I also like watching old PBS shows like Nova. They have tons of great shows there.Now the start of the "Questionably...

New Computer

I've been using the same computer for basically a decade. During that time it's been great but recently its been showing its age and slowing down. So for $200 i bought a CPU, motherboard, power supply, memory and a video card. I already had 2 hard drives and a case. First i installed the CPU to the motherboard and attached the heat-sync fan. Then i put the motherboard and power supply in the case. Then i added the RAM, video card and hard drives. So far it's great and really fas...

Cleveland

Last month i went to Lakewood Ohio for 3 days for work. I helped survey an AT&T building. A cool vent on the buildings furnace. The last day we stopped in Cleveland for more information about the property so i roamed around. Cleveland Browns Stadium Thomas Jefferson in front of the court house Downtown war memorial Stamp it "FREE" A giant corned beef sandwich. It was even better than it looks. And to greet me when i got home, a flat tire. ...